ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said the government was providing subsidy and incentivising construction industry to help low income people to have their own houses.

“Rs35 billion have been allocated for subsidy on construction of houses by the low income people,” said the prime minister while speaking at a ceremony during his visit to Naya Pakistan Housing Authority’s project Farash Town Apartments in Islamabad.

He said the government would provide Rs300,000 subsidy on every house for the first 100,000 units.

PM Imran Khan said while 100,000 apartments were under construction, the process would now speedily move forward as the structure of the system has been finalised.

He said the construction industry has been incentivised in different ways including tax relief. He said One Window Operation has started to facilitate the construction sector. “We gave 90 per cent tax exemption to the construction sector,” he said.

Regarding Farash Town Apartments, the PM said out of the total 4,400 apartments, 2,000 had been allocated for low and middle income people and 400 other apartments would be provided to slum dwellers.

He said those who had money could construct their house, while the poor could not have a house of their own. Therefore, the government wants installment of bank loans as low as monthly rent of a house, he maintained.

“For the first time in the country, banks started giving loans for construction of houses. It took us two years to convince them for this purpose,” he said.